7 Responses to Well, I Guess I Got Beat

Yeah, when that’s the alternative, there’s not really anything you can say.

This is the biggest problem with Japanese companies trying to market anime in the US – they’re emotionally married to the Japanese price point. It can’t work here! But for them to set the price lower here means acknowledging, in their heart of hearts, that maybe the show isn’t “worth” what they’re charging for it domestically… and they’d rather fail in the US market than admit that.

The upshot is, if this tendency spreads, it will kill anime in the U.S. Only the crappy stuff will get licensed on Crunchyroll, the mediocre stuff will get put behind Funimation’s paywall (or the equivalent), and the top-tier stuff will be at a price point that is not sustainable in the US market. They must figure that there are enough true fanatics (read: fools) that will pay that price out of our larger population, to make it worthwhile.

I disagree, but the bottom line is this: The golden age is over. We can argue endlessly whether the fansubbers caused the end, or are saving us from it (or both), but retailers won’t be carrying anime on the shelf any more — not at that price.

On the other hand, frankly, does it really matter these days? I mean, okay, I know people in the industry who don’t deserve to get screwed (and plenty more that don’t deserve the screw they got), but as someone who likes watching subtitled anime, I sure don’t lack for it these days. Can watch essentially anything I want, in eye-popping better-than-what-I-did-when-I-was-a-pro quality, within minutes. So, y’know… in that sense I don’t have a lot to complain about. All the anime I want and free, too.

A few years ago, DVD kept the markets separated pretty well. The Japanese companies could afford to let the US companies do whatever they needed to do without worrying too much about it.

It’s just plain harder these days. DVD isn’t a sufficient format when the anime’s in HD – the bootlegs are several times as good-looking. But Blu-ray is expensive enough to produce that it’s difficult to stay out of that “yeesh, no thanks” price range. On top of that, without the region coding, we’re directly exposed to a lot more of the neurotic Japanese companies, their own dying-out-and-dysfunctional market, and the various attendant problems within… of which this is one of ’em.

If I thought spending reasonable amounts of money could improve matters, certainly I’m not opposed to doing so; heck, I still do. But I don’t really believe it’s going to make a functional difference these days. The situation is unlikely to improve without some of the current players exiting the market, unfortunately…

Interesting points. You know, as much as we discussed regions last time, it didn’t click with me that a lot of this is the (in)direct fallout of the change to BD from DVD. The Law of Unintended Consequences strikes again.